CCC XC Hosts Mule/Falcon Classic Invitational

This Mule/Falcon Classic Invitational, the one and only home meet for the Cedar Crest cross country team, took place this Saturday with remarkable performances from the cross country athletes.

With eight women’s teams and five men’s team supposed to dig into the course, the cloudy gave way to a feeling of rain. Differing from the sunny conditions from years past, this weather did not put a damper on the morale of the athletes.

Before the meet started, the CCC runners warmed up just as they would before any other meet, but Saturday was different for two of the runners.

For seniors, captain Tori Kuebler and Kaitlin Oswald this was their last home meet.

“Even with the cloudy weather I was really happy about my last home meet” said Kuebler, who finished first for Cedar Crest with a time of 23 minutes and 43.9 seconds. “I ran as hard as I could and I feel like this is the best meet I’ve had here.”

The best part of having a home meet for some Cedar Crest runners is the ability for family and friends to attend and watch them run.

“Having family and friends here made it more exciting” said Oswald who finished third for Cedar Crest with a time of 28 minutes and 24.7 seconds. “I did well for the course.”

Both of the girls do not plan on putting their shoes away just yet. After they graduate, Kuebler and Oswald plan on coming back to run as alumnae.

Other Cedar Crest runners were just as pleased with the race as Kuebler and Oswald.

“I’m exhausted but exhilarated,” said Francis Soto, junior art therapy major and who finished second for Cedar Crest with a time of 25 minutes and 58.7 seconds, “I had family to cheer me up the hill. It inspired me.”

Coach Dan “The Bear” Donohue, assistant director of athletics pulled double duty on Saturday as he was in charge of organizing the meet as well as coaching the Cedar Crest runners.

“We began planning for the meet over the summer, but really spent a lot of time over the last two weeks,” said Donohue.

This is Donohue’s 14th season coaching and is pleased with the team’s overall performance and overall seventh place finish. He noted the improvement of the runners through the season this far, including Soto, who is new to the team this year and has beaten all previous finishing times.

“It’s always nice to run at home,” said Donohue.

Other official times: Joellyn Colangelo with 28 minutes and 47.4 seconds and Kayleigh Keegan with 31 minutes and 28.5 seconds.